2023-11-01 20:00:00
You may have read it in the news or learned it in Coco, the famous Pixar movie. The truth is that the Day of the Dead It is one of the most important festivities – if not the most important – within Mexican culture and covers a history that spans thousands of years.
Its origin is in indigenous tradition of pre-Hispanic native communities from the ancient region of Mesoamerica. In these societies, the cult of death was a basic element of culture: bodies were wrapped in a request (a type of carpet) and his relatives organized a party in order to guide him on his journey to the mictlán (the “beyond” in indigenous mythology).
The dead were very present. For this reason, once a year they held a commemoration for them which, according to this vision, implies the temporary return of the souls of the deceased home to the world of the living to live with their relatives for a night to nourish themselves with the food that was collected. He offers them on the altars.
“In this Day of the Dead celebration, death does not represent an absence but a living presence; Death is a symbol of life that materializes on the offered altar“, explained in an article the National Institute for Federalism and Municipal Development. “In this sense, it is a celebration that carries great popular significance since it understands various meanings, from philosophical to material,” he explained.
Although it is believed that the holiday is one day, it is actually an entire week: starts on October 27 and ends on November 2. Each of these days a different dead is “received”. For example, 27 is for deceased pets; 28 is for people who left the world in a tragic way; On the 29th, the people who drowned are remembered; and the 30th goes to the forgotten.
The culmination point of the celebration is November 1 and 2. The first day is remembered for all children under 12 years of age who left the earthly plane and the last day for all adults who have died, according to Expansion, a Mexican newspaper. This end date is also known as the “All death’s day”.
Each of these dates are not chosen by chance, but is the result of the fusion of the tradition of indigenous origin with the beliefs of the Catholic Spanish. The ancient Mexicans and other native peoples transferred the veneration of their dead to the Christian calendar, as confirmed National Geographic. According to the Catholic calendar, November 1 is All Saints’ Day and November 2 is All Souls’ Day.
What does the festival consist of?
In accordance with CNNpre-Hispanic peoples They placed offerings and altars dedicated to their loved ones decorated with food they liked, shredded paper, marigold flowers (considered to illuminate the path) and incense to aromatize the place.
According to the historian Héctor Zarauz, author of the book The festival of DeathAfter the conquest, some Christian elements were added to the rituals. «The crosses, which are representations of Catholicism, or some drinks that are added to the offering for the dead, distilled drinks that did not exist before. Nor what is very traditional today, bread of the dead, since flour did not exist then,” he pointed out to CNN.
In addition, the festivities also include decorating the graves with flowers and many times the altars and offerings are made on the tombstones. At the same time, tradition indicates that, To facilitate the return of souls to earth, marigold flower petals should be scattered and candles placed tracing the path that the dead will take so that they do not get lost and reach their destination. Ideally, they go from the families’ home to the grave where their loved ones rest.
The day is full of elements and symbols. In fact, in 2003 the celebration was distinguished by UNESCO as Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity for being one of the most relevant representations of the living heritage of Mexico and the world, and also as one of the oldest cultural expressions. and of greater strength.
This content was originally published in RED/ACCION and is republished as part of the ‘Human Journalism’ program, an alliance for quality journalism between RÍO NEGRO and RED/ACCION
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